1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coffee grounds disposal unit and, more particularly, relates to a coffee grounds disposal and strainer arrangement adapted to be utilized in conjunction with the operation of an automatic coffee brewer.
The installation of automatic coffee brewers or makers for the preparation of large quantities of freshly brewed coffee in a substantially continuously repetitive manner over length periods of time has found widespread applications in industrial and commercial facilities, such as offices and factories, various types of restaurants or food retailing establishments, and in country clubs, social halls, among other similar establishments. Hereby, it is a primary intent of such kind of facility to be able to serve freshly brewed coffee to a large number of consumers without the need of having to frequently discontinue the operation of the coffee brewer or maker in order to have to discard spent coffee grounds and to replenish the supply of coffee and brewing liquid thereto, so as to thereby allow for a practically undisrupted and continuous operation of the coffee brewer to satisfy the needs of the consumers normally employing the services of such coffee brewers.
Heretofore, large-sized coffee brewers for rendering available freshly brewed coffee on a so-called commercial scale included large upright canisters or urns for receiving a requisite quantity of water, and with the ground coffee being poured into a perforated brewing basket in order to produce a coffee brew, normally through a percolating process. The brewed coffee was thereafter dispensed through operation of a suitable faucet into either smaller easily handled serving pots, or even directly into coffee cups. In order to ready the urn-like coffee maker for the preparation of a subsequent coffee brewing cycle after the emptying thereof, this normally necessitated the manual removal of the basket containing the moist spent coffee grounds, discarding the grounds and washing the basket the rinsing out of the interior of the coffee urn, and the manual refilling thereof with water and inserting the basket with fresh ground coffee. This entailed employing a cumbersome procedure frequently resulting in spillage and dripping of liquid from the strainer basket containing the spent wet coffee grounds and possible dripping of residual coffee liquid from the serving faucet of the coffee urn. As a result, this produced an unsightly stain and puddle on a counter or table top on which the coffee urn was normally positioned.
More recently, in lieu of such manually filled and operated coffee urns, automatic coffee brewers of various sizes have found favor, and which to a considerable extent have eliminated the need for the frequent repetitive manual filling of the coffee brewer and the discarding of the wet spent coffee grounds therefrom. Hereby, the automatic coffee brewers internally incorporate apparatus for heating quantities of water received from a water supply source, and possess hoppers or receptacles which are filled with various types of coffee which are administered to specified quantities of heated water in dosed amounts so as to produce requisite quantities of freshly brewed coffee, which the coffee brewer then automatically dispenses into suitable coffee pots through dispensing nozzles.
In general, such automatic coffee brewers, particularly those of the large-sized commercial type, incorporate operator-actuatable cleaning/scavenging cycles whereby, subsequent to the brewing, a flow of hot water is admixed with the spent coffee grounds and flushed downwardly out of the coffee brewer through a suitable waste discharge nozzle or orifice into a suitable coffee grounds disposal unit positioned below the coffee brewer. Normally, such a coffee grounds disposal unit consists of a closed receptacle or containment structure wherein the discharge nozzle of the brewer for the hot scavenging liquid and spent coffee grounds causes this material to expelled through an inlet portion provided in a cover or lid of the receptacle of coffee grounds disposal unit, and therein to undergo a filtering or straining action which will cause the hot liquid to be discharged from the coffee grounds disposal unit into a suitable liquid drainage locale, such as a drainage sink or drain hole, and wherein the filter or strainer will inhibit the passage therethrough of the wet spent coffee grounds and cause these to be collected in the receptacle of the coffee grounds disposal unit. The latter is sized so as to enable the cumulative collection of spent coffee grounds from a considerable number of brewing cycles and waste discharges from the coffee brewer with which it is operatively associated. Thereby, this will extensively reduce the number of times in which the coffee brewer must be deactivated in order to allow for the emptying and cleaning of the coffee grounds disposal unit, while concurrently largely eliminating the danger of spillage of coffee liquid and spent coffee grounds.
Although, in general, coffee grounds disposal units which receive hot water or liquid having the spent coffee grounds entrained therein from automatic coffee brewers are considered generally satisfactory in use, and essentially meet their objectives in eliminating the need for the frequent manual handling of earlier coffee urns in order to dispose of the spent coffee grounds, they are, nevertheless, subject to some functional limitations and drawbacks. Thus, currently employed coffee grounds disposal and strainer units of the type considered herein allow for steam produced by the hot flushing liquid entering the disposal unit from the coffee brewer to egress along the juncture between the receptacle of the disposal unit into which the hot liquid and spent coffee grounds are flushed from the coffee brewer and the covering lid structure superimposed thereon. This will cause condensate liquid formed from the steam to flow down along the exterior surfaces of the receptacle of the coffee grounds disposal unit, and produce unsightly water puddles in the area surrounding the disposal unit and the coffee brewer. Moreover, the discharge of the hot liquid or water from the disposal unit in which the spent coffee grounds have previously been separated and collected in the receptacle of the grounds disposal unit, is generally effected through a horizontal outlet conduit communicating with the bottom level of the receptacle wherein such liquid tends to collect, and with a hose being connected to the outlet conduit for draining such liquid into a drainage facility; for example, a sink or drain hole located in the vicinity of the coffee brewer. However, when it is desired to empty the spent coffee grounds from the receptacle of the coffee grounds disposal unit, the hose is normally uncoupled or disconnected from the outlet conduit which communicates with the receptacle, and the entire receptacle is manually carried to a suitable waste disposal bin where the coffee ground contents are emptied therein, and the receptacle may then be subsequently rinsed and dried for subsequent reemployment below a coffee brewer. The uncoupling of the drainage hose from the outlet conduit frequently causes residual liquid which has collected in the bottom of the receptacle to spill or drip out of the horizontal outlet conduit, thereby producing unsightly and staining puddles of coffee-colored liquid residues on the surface of a table or counter top on which the coffee brewer is located. This imparts a unattractive and dirty appearance to the entire facility, and particularly in establishments, like coffee shops for example, where such coffee brewers are positioned exposed to public viewing by customers, this may adversely influence the customers opinion over the quality of the restaurant or establishment serving the coffee.
In order to ameliorate or even eliminate the drawbacks encountered in coffee ground disposal and strainer units of the type described herein, the present invention contemplates as an improvement thereto that such disposal units be equipped with features which will eliminate the potential for unsightly spilling of condensate water from the hot liquid or water flushed into the disposal unit from the coffee brewer, and also largely eliminate the potential for spillage of residual amounts of coffee-like liquid from the lower receptacle portion of the coffee grounds disposal unit upon uncoupling of the drainage hose for purposes of emptying the unit of its spent coffee ground contents. The foregoing is achieved in that the lid member covering the receptacle receiving the hot liquid or water and entrained spent coffee grounds from the coffee brewer is equipped with a plurality of venting apertures which will allow steam generated by the hot liquid in the receptacle to escape upwardly through the apertures. Hereby, the coffee grounds disposal unit is ordinarily arranged below the bottom plate of an automatic coffee brewer which is elevated or raised above a support surface, such as a table or counter top, through the intermediary of spaced legs, and wherein the bottom of the coffee brewer normally incorporates a hot plate for maintaining pots of coffee in a heated or warming condition subsequent to the dispensing of coffee thereinto from the coffee brewer. Consequently, the hot plate will concurrently serve to vaporize such steam and prevent it from streaming down the outer surfaces of the coffee grounds discharge unit onto the counter top.
In addition to the foregoing, along the peripheral juncture between the upper ends of the sidewalls of the receptacle receiving the hot liquid and the therein entrained spent coffee grounds from the coffee brewer, and the downwardly depending mating flange structure of the lid member superimposed thereon, a U-shaped channel structure is formed on the upper ends of the sidewalls into which there engage the flange on the lid member formed on the upper ends of the receptacle sidewalls. Hereby, any condensate liquid flowing down the flange from the inside of the lid member, which condensate is formed from steam emanating from the hot liquid in the receptacle will tend to collect in the U-shaped channel intermediate the lid member and the receptacle, thereby preventing such liquid or water from flowing outwardly and down the receptacle onto the table or counter top. This, to a large extent, will eliminate the formation of water puddles and coffee stains in the areas surrounding the coffee brewer and/or coffee grounds disposal unit, thereby enabling the appearance of the counter top to remain clean and attractive.
In addition to the foregoing, in order to preclude residual coffee liquid from spilling out of the liquid discharge outlet connector arranged in the bottom level of the receptacle upon the disconnecting of the drainage hose when it is desired to empty the receptacle of accumulated spent coffee grounds, the outlet connector or conduit is provided with a swivel coupling which, during the operation of the coffee brewer and the arrangement of the coffee grounds disposal unit therebeneath, is pivoted into a horizontal position so as to cause the flow through the connector into the hose to be at a level coinciding with the lowest level of the receptacle, thusly ensuring that practically all of the scavenging liquid or hot water flushed into the receptacle from the coffee brewer will flow out through the drainage hose. However, when it is desired to empty the receptacle of the coffee grounds disposal unit of its accumulated coffee grounds content, the swivel coupling may be pivoted upwardly so as to provide an elevated vertically oriented discharge opening upon separation of the drainage hose therefrom, which is conducive towards preventing any residual liquid contained in the receptacle from spilling out through the discharge outlet connector upon removing the receptacle from its position beneath the coffee brewer and any slight tilting thereof. Again, this will preclude the spillage of residual brewed coffee liquid and assist in maintaining the counter top in a clean condition presenting a neat appearance.
Furthermore, the coffee brewer may also be equipped with a positioning device in the form of a lateral bar and guide bracket members mounted on the coffee brewer supporting legs beneath the brewer, and located in the space above the counter or table top from which the coffee brewer is supported, so as to enable the coffee grounds disposal unit to be slid between the guide brackets of the positioning device to a location in which the inlet port of the lid of the grounds disposal unit is in alignment with the waste discharge nozzle of the coffee brewer for the receipt of the hot flushing water or liquid and entrained spent coffee grounds.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Although various types of structures which are somewhat similar in operation and configuration are present in the art, none of these provide for the advantages afforded by and contemplated by the present invention.
Waline U.S. Pat. No. 3,345,935 discloses a multi-sectioned disposable coffee brewing bag and basket which is adapted to be positioned in a receptacle and to have hot water passed therethrough to provide a coffee brew of specified consistency. There is no disclosure of the unique coffee grounds disposal unit embodying the inventive features as contemplated herein.
Similarly, Bertelsen, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,970 discloses a cross-flow filtration membrane unit in which a liquid is adapted to flow through a closed receptacle in order to separate solids therefrom. There is no disclosure of a unique coffee grounds disposal and strainer unit analogous to that contemplated by the invention.
Pecoraro, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,007,392 discloses a canister for producing beverages in which a filter pack containing coffee is loaded into a receptacle and supported on a metal plate, with a lid member thereafter being sealingly closed thereover through the action of a sealing lever, and a hot water flow infused through the coffee so as to cause the latter to be filtered along small openings along the edge of the plate downwardly through a discharge orifice. There is no disclosure of the particular separation of spent coffee grounds from a hot scavenging liquid analogous to that contemplated by the present invention.
Finally, Cobb, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,063 discloses a filter unit for a washing machine in which a flow of wash water is passed through a filter to have lint and other fabric constituents separated therefrom. There is no disclosure of a unique coffee grounds disposal and strainer unit analogous to that provided for by the present invention.